


From the Shadows

by SociallyAwkwardFox



Series: JayTim Week: Tropes & AUs 2018 [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, M/M, Murder Mystery, Murdered Character, Sibling Bonding, Thriller, attempted abuse, solving crime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-05 00:42:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14032392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SociallyAwkwardFox/pseuds/SociallyAwkwardFox
Summary: When his night goes from bad to worse, he doesn't expect to be rescued by a shadow or to find himself digging into a murder. Despite that, he refuses to give up until he helps his savior find peace.





	From the Shadows

The sound of his footsteps against the pavement echoed off the buildings towering over him adding to the creepiness of walking around a normally busy city at a time when no one else appeared to be around. He almost regretted his decision to leave his now ex-boyfriend’s apartment when he didn’t have a car or a friend available to pick him up. While the cheating might’ve made him regret it, nearly hitting him in rage had him thinking the creepy streets were probably a better option. He couldn’t have known that two men would jump out of an alley and dragged him out of view of the street.

Before he could scream, one placed a hand over his mouth and squeezed hard enough he knew he’d have a bruise. The other reached for the hem of his pants, but didn’t get to do more than graze their fingers along the skin of his abdomen. Someone Tim couldn’t see grabbed them from behind and threw them hard against the wall of a building. They dropped to the ground in an unmoving heap and didn’t appear to be getting up anytime soon. What felt like a breeze rushed past him, then the hand over his mouth disappeared.

Hesitantly, Tim turned around to find the other gasping on the concrete behind him with a gash across their chest. If that weren’t enough to make his heart beat even faster, the thing standing over him sent it skyrocketing. It looked like a living, breathing shadow in the shape of a person at least a good foot taller than him. A part of him knew he should take a step away from it, but his curiosity got the best of him and he found himself taking several steps towards it. When he could almost touch it, it turned to look at him with glowing eyes.

“Thank you. They would’ve…” After taking a shuddering breath to calm down, he took another step closer to it and felt relief when it didn’t back away from him. “Tonight’s been horrible and you saved me from them. I can’t thank you enough. Is there something I can do for you? Anything at all.”

The thing tipped its head to the side, then slowly morphed into a surprisingly handsome human form-inky black hair shaved down on the sides, blue-green eyes, muscular build. “Let me walk you home.”

“That’s… Sure. I’d appreciate that.”

It nodded in acknowledgement, then offered out an arm for Tim to loop his own around. Without thinking, he did as it wanted and pressed a little tighter to it when he felt the surprising warmth radiating from it. An odd expression appeared on its face and it looked down at Tim with obvious curiosity in its eyes.

“Are you cold?”

“A bit.”

“You don’t have a jacket.”

“No. I forgot to grab it.”

“Why?” Hurt must have flashed across his face because the shadow creature wrinkled its eyebrows up and shook its head. “Never mind.”

“It’s fine. I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me when I walked in on him having sex with one of his ex-girlfriends or current girlfriend, I guess. We argued, he tried to hit me, I broke up with him, and stormed out. I didn’t think to grab my jacket. Luckily, I got my wallet and keys.”

“He’s a moron.”

“I can’t argue with you there. Who brings the person they’re cheating on you with to their apartment when you have a key and they told you to stop by whenever you want?”

“Not that. He’s a moron to cheat on you.”

For a moment, Tim thought he would faceplant right onto the concrete, but the arm he’d been holding onto kept him up. “What makes you say that?”

“You’re obviously intelligent and strong and beautiful.”

“I-I got dragged off the street by a couple of idiots because I was stupid enough to walk around this part of town alone at night and I wouldn’t have gotten away from them if you hadn’t shown up.”

“Emotions got the best of you. Would you have been here if you had been in the proper state of mind? You were smart enough and strong enough to leave a man that hurt you in more ways than one. That’s proof enough.”

“And beautiful?”

“Did you not know?”

“Well, no one’s ever called me beautiful before.” Tim shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and looked away from the creature’s hypnotizing eyes. “You’re very handsome and kind. Most people would’ve turned the other way if they saw something like that happening.”

“People are cruel.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yes.”

“What are you?”

The creature stopped abruptly to look down at Tim. “A Shade.”

“What is that?”

“Someone that was murdered, but can’t move on. I protect people from suffering the same fate I did.”

“So, this is what you looked like?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t there some way for you to move on?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve been stuck here for almost two years now.”

“What if you found peace?” The Shade raised a questioning eyebrow at him and tipped its head to the side. “Maybe, you’re stuck here because there’s something that needs to be done before you can move on. You said you’re protecting people. What if you’re protecting them because the person that murdered you is still out there and you don’t want the same thing to happen to other people. Do you remember your name or who killed you?”

“Jason. That’s all I remember. My name was Jason.”

“My name’s Tim and I’m going to figure out who killed you. It’s the least I can do after you helped me. I want you to find peace.”

“Thank you. I don’t know if it will help, but thank you for caring enough to try.”

Silence fell between them as they came to a stop in front of Tim’s apartment building. Despite hardly knowing Jason, he found himself not wanting to leave the Shade so soon after meeting him. Something about the Shade intrigued him and he wanted to get to know Jason better, but he got the feeling he wouldn’t be able to do that tonight.

“How can I find you again?”

“Call for me. I’ll come.”

“That sounds too good to be true.”

“Trust me.”

“I do. You saved me. How could I not?”

* * *

 

The sound of his front door opening did little to distract him from the news articles strewn across his coffee table. He thought it would be easier to find someone named Jason killed two years ago, but he hadn’t found a single mention of any Jason. His next move meant combing through every mention of murder in Gotham in the past three years. It hadn’t taken him long to find traces of a serial killer that the police either hadn’t picked up on or hadn’t bothered to tell the public about.

One thing led to another and he now found himself desperately searching for that one last link that would solve the puzzle. Whatever it was felt just out of his reach, but he didn’t have any idea how to find that final piece. It had to be there somewhere. He just needed to connect the right dots together.

“Tim!” A hand waving in front of his face obscured his vision and pulled him out of the train of thought he’d fallen into. “Why are you staring at these?”

“None of your business. Did you need something, Damian?”

“They are worried about you.”

“Who is they?”

“The others. They believe you are acting strange because of the break-up and are concerned you might do something harm yourself.”

Finally, Tim turned away from the papers and raised an eyebrow at his younger brother. “And what do you think?”

“Why would you feel bad about a break-up when he was scum?”

“What if I really loved him?”

“Please, you’re not that stupid. The only reason you dated him was loneliness. There was never a future between the two of you. You deserved better.”

“Some people settle.”

“Not you. You’ve never settled for anything less than worthy of you.”

“It’s nice to know you have such a high opinion of me, even if you don’t show it often.” Nervously, Tim fiddled with the paper closest to him, then returned his averted eyes to Damian. “If I tell you something, will you promise not to judge me for it?”

“Yes.”

“I lied about that night. Not about the cheating or the attempted abuse, but about what happened after I walked out on him. It was late and I was alone in that part of town. My thoughts were a mess, so I wasn’t thinking straight. I could’ve easily handled him. I should’ve stayed in his apartment until the morning, but I thought it was better to leave. Some people grabbed me and tried to… tried to rape me.”

“You fought them off.”

A sudden wave of emotion hit him so hard he couldn’t stop the tears that trickled down his cheeks. “Don’t be ridiculous. They caught me off guard and emotional. I couldn’t have defended myself from a fly.”

“Someone helped you.”

“Yes, and you wouldn’t believe me if I told you about them, but they did.”

“Why wouldn’t I believe you?”

“Who would believe that a creature made out of shadows called a Shade saved their brother from two fuckheads attempting to rape him? It sounds insane and like something I came up with to get over the trauma from that night.”

“My mother told me stories about shadow creatures that protect people from those that wish to hurt them. She said they were beings trapped in-between life and death that were wronged and now look for peace. Most are murder victims.” The look in Damian’s eyes was fiercer than any he’d ever seen before and he found the tears slowing at the realization his brother wasn’t simply comforting him-he truly believed him. “She called them Shades.”

“Did she say how they find peace?”

“It is different for every Shade.”

“Could finding the killer and bringing them to justice do it?”

“Yes. If that’s what is holding them in the Between, then it will free them.”

“Say they’re murdered by a serial killer. What are the odds that’s why they’re still here?”

Damian blinked curiously at him, then glanced down at the articles. “She did not say, but I would think that being murder by a serial killer still on the prowl would create a strong tie that would keep a being trapped.”

“Want to help me find a serial killer?”

“Father would not approve.”

“Father doesn’t have to know.”

“Very well. What do you have?”

* * *

 

Finding the missing persons poster was a stroke of luck that Tim didn’t expect when he decide to walk to work instead of drive. He didn’t know why he decided to do it, but for some reason the idea of fresh air appealed to him and he left early to make it on time. He might’ve called it fate if the poster smacked him in the face, but a stray glance at a window catching his attention had to be luck. The familiar face had him pushing open the door to the shop without a second thought and approaching the red-haired woman standing behind the counter.

“Who put up that poster?”

Shock appeared on the woman’s face as her eyes instinctively darted over to the poster he’d asked her about. “I did. Have you seen him?”

“He looks like someone I saw recently, but I can’t be sure.”

“When? When did you see him and where?”

“Last week, near the East End. Would he be there for any reason?”

“Yes, he would.” The woman let out a heavy sigh that had her shoulders sagging in defeat. “He worked as a social worker and was one of the few willing to go into that part of town. The kids adored him. The last day we heard from him, he was working a case in that area.”

“That must’ve been hard for you.”

“It was hard for me and Roy. We were his friends and to have him disappear on us like that was devastating, but he wouldn’t just leave. There’s no way. There were kids depending on him.”

“I’m sure your right. I must be mistaken, but do you mind if I take a photo of it. Just in case I think I see him again. I can give you a call.”

“Sure. The more eyes the better.”

“Thanks.”

Despite getting valuable information, he couldn’t help but feel bad for opening back up old wounds that the woman had probably hoped would either be healed or left to heal. After exiting the shop, he quickly took a photo of the poster and took a hard look at the face of Jason Todd. The Jason in the photo had a bright smile that rivalled any other that Tim had ever seen and, somehow, made him even more handsome. It was hard to imagine that someone would kill such a wonderful person, but he knew the world was a violent and cruel place. With one last glance at the poster, he continued on his way to work and spent all day thinking about Jason Todd.

* * *

 

“Jason?” His voice carried away on the strong wind blowing around him, causing him to shiver and clutch his jacket tighter to his body. “Are you there?”

“Yes.”

The surprise of a deep voice coming from behind him, nearly ended with him on his ass as he turned to look at the source. A pair of hands grabbed a hold of his waist to keep him from making a complete fool out of himself and from getting a bruised tailbone. On instinct, his hands grabbed the first thing they could latch onto, which meant his nails digging into muscular biceps. With an awkward cough, he dropped his hands, but the ones on his waist stayed.

“I found out something important today and I thought you might want to know.”

“What did you find?”

“Your name is Jason Todd. You were a social worker that worked a lot in the East End. It’s likely you were there the day you died. Although, you could have just been taken from there and died later. Your friend Kori is looking for you. She had this poster up in her shop window. At least, I think it was her shop.”

“That’s…” Jason’s eyes went strangely glassy for a few seconds, then the Shade shook his head to clear it. “She has red hair.”

“Yes.”

“How is she?”

“She misses you and I think she’s doing as well as she can. Maybe finding your killer will bring peace to more than just you.”

“He… He had scars. Around his mouth there were scars, like a smile.”

“Who did?”

Unblinking eyes turned to him with a surprising darkness lurking in their depths. “The man that killed me.”

* * *

 

With a frustrated groan, Tim dropped the papers in his hands on the coffee table and fell back against the couch cushions. He had scoured Gotham’s news in search of a man with scars on his face like a smile, but came up with absolutely nothing. The next step he took involved going through all the news articles he’d been through several days ago hoping someone might’ve mentioned something about the man and had the same luck. It almost felt like he was chasing a ghost-something he found ironic considering who he was trying to help by finding the man.

“There’s nothing here.”

“I know, but where else is there to look? It’s not like I have software that I can use to find the person or access to cameras in the area Jason was attacked the night he died.”

“Father would be able to help.”

“He wouldn’t believe me.” The mere thought of trying to explain the situation to Bruce gave him the beginnings of a headache. “There has to be someway to find this guy. If there’s no suspicion on him, there’s no reason for him to leave. Who knows how many people he’s killed, but he thinks he’s gotten away with at least one murder. There has to be more than Jason. All these missing people and murders, there’s something tying them together. What’s the connection?”

“How do you expect to find one when the police have not? They have vastly superior resources and have been unable to catch him.”

“Assuming they know who they’re looking for.”

“What else do you expect to do? We have exhausted our resources and it would take months of searching to possibly find anything useful.”

As if his mind wanted to spite Damian, a sudden thought stuck him. “They were all in the East End. They either lived there or worked there. That’s the connection.”

“How does that help?”

“It gives me a place to look.”

“At times, I believe you to be intelligent. Were you not near the East End when those two grabbed you? It would be foolish to return. You know first hand how dangerous it is.”

“But how else are we supposed to find him? Luring him out is the only option.”

“Jason would not want you to risk your life to find his killer.”

“I don’t need his permission.” While Damian continued to stare at him with a blank expression on his face, Tim headed to the entryway to pull on his jacket and shoes. “Plus, if anything goes wrong, I can call for Jason and he’ll come. He’ll protect me.”

“You cannot be sure of that.”

“Yes, I can. He’s come when I called before. He’ll do it again, especially if I’m in danger.”

“You are risking your life for a person you hardly know. A person that is not even a person. He is a Shade. There is no guarantee he will come if you call.”

“Well, it’s my risk to take.”

Damian clicked his tongue against the top of his mouth and crossed his arms firmly over his chest. “Father would be very displeased, and Grayson. They would both advise against this.”

“Yes, but they wouldn’t be able to stop me either. As Bruce always reminds me, I’m painfully stubborn when I set my mind to something. Are you staying here?”

“Yes. Do not stay out too long. The later it gets, the more dangerous.”

“I will, Dami. Feel free to raid the pantry. I just stocked up and I made sure to grab some of your favorites.”

* * *

 

Cold bit at his exposed skin as he walked at a brisk pace around the East End with his jacket collar flicked up to cover as much as it could of his face. While he wanted nothing more than to duck into the nearest open shop, he wouldn’t be able to lure the scarred man out if he hid away. So, he continued to walk down the street like he was hurrying to get somewhere and kept his eyes peeled for any sign of someone suspicious. The most suspicious thing he’d seen so far was a cat looking at him with beady eyes as it flicked its tail menacingly.

The sound of metal hitting the concrete pulled his attention toward an alley he’d been about to walk past. Something rolled out of the alley and bounced off his foot. He bent down for a closer look to find a doll’s head staring up at him with bright green eyes. It looked grimy, like it’d been in the trash for a long while. Despite his instincts telling him not to, he picked up the doll head and immediately felt a shiver run down his spine.

When he flicked his eyes up, glowing green irises were watching him with a terrifying intensity. It was immediately obvious why he hadn’t been able to find the scarred man anywhere. Clearly, the man before him wasn’t a regular man at all. If the eyes weren’t enough to give it away, the strange pulsing black aura surrounding him would’ve made it obvious. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of a jagged knife clutched tightly in one hand. He took several large steps forward with his manic grin steadily growing the closer he got.

“Look what we have here. A little birdy came to play. It’s too late to fly away now, little bird.” Ignoring the thing’s words, Tim took a step backwards only for his back to collide with something solid. “I told you. There’s no way out now. We’ve got all the time in the world to play.”

“Wha-what are you?”

“Bored. I’m trapped here and I’m bored. People so rarely come here anymore. It’s lucky really. I’ll have to take my time with you. Much more time than I took with the others.”

The thing ran the knife teasingly along Tim’s jaw, then flicked it just enough to make a small cut near his chin. “Jason!”

“No one can help you now, but feel free to scream all you like.”

“Jason Todd!”

An inky shadow appeared behind the thing's shoulder-much to Tim’s relief-and tossed the thing away from him. While a hint of concern danced along his eyes, fury pulsed from him in strong waves as he turned to face the cackling monster. The shadow around him disappeared, until Jason was left standing over the thing that had killed him. His jaw muscle visibly twitched, then he bent down to pick the monster off the ground and immediately slammed it back down. The cackling only increased as Jason repeated the process over and over again.

With a deafening roar, Jason tossed the thing hard into a wall. It made a loud cracking sound upon impact, but that didn’t stop the deranged laughter from pouring out of it. The thing struggled to its feet and took a shaky step in Jason’s direction. A malevolent glint in its eyes had Tim holding his breath as he watched Jason launch himself at the creature. With a quickness that Tim didn’t expect, the monster used Jason’s momentum to guide him into the same wall it had just been slammed against.

“Well, well. This is certainly unexpected. Stuck in the Middle. Don’t worry. I’ll help you find peace. After I’ve had my fun with you, of course.”

“Fuck you.”

“Such vile language. Did you kiss your mother with that mouth? Oh, wait! You never knew your mother, not your real one.”

With another furious roar, Jason launched himself at the thing causing them both to tumble to the ground in a pile of limbs. Before the creature could shake off the unexpected turn of events, Jason got in two solid punches that didn’t appear to do a thing to it. The monster gave a manic giggle, then motioned for Jason to hit it again. To Tim’s utter disbelief, it wasn’t a punch that Jason next hit the thing with.

As if he’d conjured in from thin air, the knife the thing had been wielding earlier suddenly appeared in Jason’s hand. The creature barely had time to realize its mistake because the knife sank deep into its chest where its heart would be if it were human. A choked noise cut off the sound of it giggling, then the aura around it began to pulse violently-reds, blacks, greys-like a bomb about to go off.

“Ja-”

The world went white.

* * *

 

Opening his eyes felt like far too difficult a task for something he’d been doing his entire life. His lids felt heavy and his head felt too fuzzy to get the proper message across to them to open. When he finally managed it, he found himself staring down a dingy alley and not the walls of his bedroom. He blinked once to see if he was simply imagining things, but when the alleyway remained he knew it couldn’t be a dream. Blinking also cleared his slightly cloudy vision enough for him to notice someone else on the ground not far from him.

Despite his muscles protesting the movement, Tim pushed himself onto his hands and knees, so he could crawl the short distance between them. His arms shook violently and his head kept dipping dangerously low, but he got to the person’s side before they gave out. Heavily, he fell to his bottom and took several deep breaths to clear his buzzing head. When he felt stable enough he wouldn’t pitch over with the smallest move, he placed a hand on the person’s shoulder and gave it a firm shake.

“Come on.” He gave another shake that earned him a low groan from the person. “Hey, can you hear me? Hello?”

Instead of answering, the person pushed up to sit similar to Tim and blinked at him with a confused expression on his face. “Tim?”

“Jason? How are you…”

“Alive?”

“Yes.”

“No idea, but I’m not going to complain. We should get out of here.”

“Right.” With great difficulty, Tim got to his feet and would have tipped right back over if he hadn’t caught the arm Jason held out to him. “Walk me home?”

“It’d be irresponsible of me not to.”

“What a gentleman.”

“I try to be, from time to time.”

Tim glanced up at Jason, then returned his gaze to the empty street to keep from getting caught staring. “Jason?”

“Tim.”

“Have you always had that white patch?”

“What white patch?”

“The one in your hair.”

“No.” The thoughtful tone of Jason’s voice had Tim chancing another look up to catch sight of the contemplative expression on his face. “No, I’ve never had a white patch. Another mystery to solve.”

“Well, it turns out I’m pretty good at solving mysteries.”

“You don’t say. You’re really good at getting into trouble as well.”

“Guess I’ll just have to keep you around. My shadow. There to protect me when I need it.”

“And the rest of the time?”

His lips tipped into a small smile that he attempted to hid by tipping his head down, but he was sure Jason noticed it before he could. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos always greatly appreciated. You can find me on Tumblr ([SociallyAwkwardFoxWriter](http://sociallyawkwardfoxwriter.tumblr.com/)).


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